The perfect moment
by Moppipoika
Summary: Castiel is way too adorable when cuddling with kittens, and Dean has to figure out his feelings. What would be a better time to do so than Christmas?


Dean sat on the wooden chair and tried to hide his yawn. They were working on a case that seemed to have something to do with a ghost, and they were now questioning an old woman who had been the victim's old babysitter or something. She happened to own a little animal shelter, and all she was able to talk about was her precious little cats and dogs, which was the reason that even after an hour and a half, they were still there, trying to get the information they needed from her.

It didn't really help that Dean had only slept for like two hours last night, he had only had the time to drink one coffee today, and both, Sam and Castiel, had been somehow extra annoying. Sam had been his usual know-it-all -self, but more than usual. And Castiel had just been… well, Castiel, but somehow, he had been getting on his nerves more than probably ever before.

So, when Sam finally told the lady that they needed to head out, Dean had to force himself to stay quiet and to not let out a loud sigh of relief. He got up from his seat, shook the lady's hand and headed out of the room as fast as he could without being obvious about how badly he wanted out of there.

"Where's Castiel?" Sam asked after walking up to Dean.

Dean shrugged. He wasn't Castiel's babysitter no matter how badly he needed one. "How the hell am I supposed to know?" he asked as he walked through a short hallway leading them away from the staff's room. "Do I look like his mother?"

Sam chuckled quietly, and Dean threw him an annoyed glance. Ever since last Christmas Sam had had this weird obsession about Dean having a crush on Castiel, and it was only because Dean had given Castiel some sock as a gift, and said something like "I remembered you said you liked them." That little sentence was what had planted the idea into Sam's head, and it had been there for almost a year now.

With an annoyed sigh, Dean walked through a wooden door which led them to a room full of cages. Cages with cats in them. At the end of the room, there was a small area surrounded by fences. Inside the fences was Castiel, sitting cross-legged in the middle of all kind of little toys. There was also a bunch of kitten running around Castiel, all of them differently colored, meowing loudly as the dark-haired man talked to them with a smile on his lips.

It felt like Dean's heart was doing backflips and his stomach was filled with butterflies. The smile on Castiel's face was shining brighter than the midday sun as he lifted one of the kittens and gave a little smooch on its forehead. The kitty closed its eyes for a moment and meowed loudly, and with a short laugh, Castiel gently placed it back on the floor.

"Sam," Dean whispered, slapping his brother's arm to get his attention.

"What, Dean?" Sam asked irritably as he finally turned his attention to Dean.

"I think I need a cat," Dean muttered, his eyes still locked on Castiel, who was now letting the kittens fiercely attack his fingers, "like, right now."

"A cat?" Sam repeated with raised brows.

"Yes." Dean nodded. "A cat."

Sam turned to look at where Dean was looking at, and a small smile made its way to his lips. "I see," he quietly said with a nod.

After a long moment of them both staring at Castiel and the kittens, Castiel finally looked up and noticed them. "Oh, you're back," he said cheerfully as he got up and out of the kitty-area. Dean felt like screaming; he didn't want the man to stop playing with the extremely cute furballs, he wanted to stand there all night and watch how the man smiled and laughed at their wobbly walking.

"How did it go?" Castiel asked when he reached the brothers.

"Fine," Dean mumbled, his mood already dropped so low he was sure Crowley would soon be there to greet him. "It went fine."

* * *

It was Christmas eve, and Dean finally had the opportunity to sink down on the poop-colored sofa in their motel room and open himself a bottle of beer. He lifted his legs on the table and watched Castiel put the last decorations on their plastic tree. They hadn't planned on getting one, but Castiel had insisted and Dean had finally given up and not so happily bought them the cheapest one he had found.

In addition, Castiel had also insisted on getting each other presents this year. Of course, Dean and Sam always bought each other something crappy from the closest gas station, but this year they had actually had to put some thought into their gifts.

"Okay, now, it's time for the presents!" Castiel chirped happily, and Dean felt an urgent need to take a huge gulp from his drink. "Sam, you go first."

Sam rolled his eyes with a laugh but handed Dean a gift with a small smile. "Merry Christmas, Dean," he mumbled as Dean accepted the present.

"Yeah, to you too," Dean smiled. He put his beer on the table, took a better position and ripped the wrappings away, revealing a red flannel and a card with a username and password to Pornhub. With a grin on his face, Dean lifted his eyes to Sam. "You know me so well."

After Castiel had folded away his new pair of jeans and a movie gift card, he got up from the floor where he had been sitting. "Here, Sam," he smiled as he handed Sam his gift, which revealed to be a new hard drive for his laptop. "Dean," he then said and turned to the said man, "my gift for you is in the other room."

Suddenly feeling awfully nervous, Dean got up from the sofa, ignoring Sam's wiggly eyebrows, and followed Castiel out of the room and into the other one. He had no idea what Castiel's gift might be, and he wasn't even sure if he wanted to know. It was Castiel, and Castiel didn't always have the best ideas.

"Close your eyes," Castiel told him with a smile, and Dean did so even though he hesitated for a moment. He was pretty sure it wasn't going to be anything good if he had to close his eyes for it. "Hold out your hands," Castiel continued to instruct him, and again he did as he was told to. Soon, there was something small and soft placed on his hands, and when he opened his eyes, he discovered it was a kitten. A black and white kitten with big blue eyes and a soft, quiet voice as it meowed at him.

"A… cat?" Dean asked slowly, not really sure what he was supposed to say or what kind of reaction Castiel was expecting from him.

"A cat!" Castiel repeated, full of excitement.

"How did you even- "

"I was talking with Sam one day," Castiel cut him off. "And he told me you had said you wanted a cat back at the shelter, you remember?"

"I do," Dean admitted confusedly, giving the man a nod. "But, Cas, I can't keep a cat."

"I know!" Castiel hurried to say. "That's why I didn't actually adopt us a cat. Well, I did, but I already made a deal with this one woman that I'll go and give this little boy to her and her family after a few days."

"You… you adopted a cat for me as a Christmas gift, and after Christmas, you're giving it to some family?" Dean asked slowly, not sure if he had gotten it right. But the smile and the nod he got from Castiel told him he had gotten it right. "You really are something," he laughed, petting the kitten's small, soft head.

"So, what did you get for me?" Castiel asked after they had spent a good five minutes in silence, gently petting the kitten on Dean's arms.

"Your turn to close your eyes," Dean told the man with a small smile, his cheeks burning. He wasn't sure if he was up for this, but it felt like this was the moment it needed to be done; there wouldn't come a moment more perfect in a long time.

After Castiel had closed his eyes, Dean took a step closer. He counted to ten in his mind, petted the kitten a little more and tried to get his thought in order. He was ready. It wasn't what he had planned, not at all, he actually had a present for Castiel in the other room, but he just knew this was it. It was now or never.

He pressed his lips gently against Castiel's, smiling as he felt how Castiel leant a bit closer, craving for more.


End file.
